Breast cancer (BCA) is a leading cause of death in women age 45-55, but nowadays, it’s happening to women in their late 20s. The majority of these cases are hormone-sensitive breast cancers. 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of breast cancer. (no BRCA1and BRCA2 genes, no family members suffering from BCA). That is where our cautions, early detection, and prevention should be at.
The breast cancer risk factors supported by research and conventional medicine (early periods, late menopause, never being pregnant or pregnancy after the age of 30, never having breastfed, family history of breast cancer, etc.) can no longer explain its high incidence. Today one in eight women has breast cancer, which is much higher than 50 years ago when this ratio was one in twenty.
Something in our environment increases the number of these cases, and we can now confidently label breast cancer as an environmental disease. New research has provided more evidence that toxicity in our environment is immensely responsible for this hormone-sensitive cancer. The paper in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives lists 17 chemicals to avoid and offers women advice on how to minimize their exposure. They include chemicals in gasoline, diesel, and other vehicle exhaust, flame retardants, stain-resistant textiles, paint removers, and disinfection by-products in drinking water.
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IAEC 2012), preventable risk factors for breast cancer include increased weight after menopause, medical radiation, reproductive history characteristics, lack of physical exercise, alcohol consumption (two to three glasses daily increases risk by 40-70%), HRT, the combination birth control pill, diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure before birth and tobacco. The latest research aims to identify toxic substances from our environment that increase breast cancer rates to encourage prevention by the public and conventional doctors.
One group which is well recognized by integrative medicine is the xenoestrogen group which encompasses synthetic chemicals that mimic natural estrogen. It has been linked to many health problems, including breast cancer. Many of them are present in a woman’s everyday life: phthalates and parabens from personal care and cosmetic products, bisphenols from receipts and plastic bottles, polystyrene food packaging, fuel exhaust, pesticides, food preservatives, etc.
Science supports that estrogen-sensitive cancers are more frequent in women with the genes responsible for unfavourable estrogen metabolism. Some of these detoxification genes (CYP1B1) are responsible for forming dangerous estrogen metabolites that damage DNA and can initiate the development of breast cancer. This gene is strongly induced by certain xenoestrogens and toxins. ( such as cigarette smoke, PAHs, and HCAs from barbequed meat, etc.)
Others genes decrease estrogen clearance (methylation), which contributes to estrogen dominance. One such gene is COMT, which increases the risk of breast cancer four-fold. Research has concluded that xenoestrogens may strongly inhibit COMT-mediated methylation and facilitate the development of estrogen-induced cancers. Nutritional deficiencies (including folate deficiency) can also contribute to this problem. To put it simply, the presence of a gene doesn’t mean much if a person is living a “clean” lifestyle and has balanced nutrition. The opposite is also true; a very toxic lifestyle can “switch on” the genes responsible for estrogen detoxification and the accumulation of dangerous estrogen metabolites. This is known as the epigenetic effect. Identifying an individual’s estrogen metabolism by checking genes and metabolites, and recognizing the environmental toxins present, is the foundation of breast cancer prevention.
Integrative medical physicians have a well-defined strategy for manipulating this gene-environment interaction. One example is the use of I3C (from broccoli!), which has similar effects to Tamoxifen. I3C inhibits the growth of estrogen-positive (ER+) breast cancer cells by 90%, compared to 60% by Tamoxifen.
The study found that women with GSTT1 null gene (one of glutathione families gene) experienced more breast cancer protection from Marine n-3 Fatty Acids (aka Fish Oil) than those with high activity genotypes. This demonstrates how using the specific epigenetic effects of food can successfully prevent breast cancer and how understanding the genetic makeup can facilitate this prevention.
Xenoestrogens detoxification and elimination are imperative to integrative medicine physician in preventing breast cancer. That means couching patients how to avoid them and using phytonutrients and supplements to enhance their elimination from the body.
We need to make sure that phase 2 liver detoxification is adequate, thyroid hormone level is sufficient, bowel movements are regular, and that there are no pathogenic bacteria in the gut contributing re-circulation of toxins and our estrogens.
It is also important to address estrogen dominance, whether it comes from a woman’s estrogen or environmental chemicals that mimic it. That is why integrative medical doctors recommend bioidentical hormones rather than HRT. HRT contains equine estrogen and chemically altered progestins, well recognized in studies to be carcinogenic. Studies have established that bioidentical progesterone can prevent breast cancer in estrogen-dominant women (who lack sufficient progesterone).
The cause of breast cancer is multifactorial, and that makes prevention more difficult. A recent meta-analysis of five studies published by Anticancer Research (USA) found that patients diagnosed with breast cancer with high vitamin D levels had double the survival rate of women with low levels.
A high intake of carbohydrates also doubles the risk of BCA. But insulin resistance is an emerging cause of breast cancer in the younger population, even in triple-negative breast cancers. Many studies support that. High waist to hip ratio, insulin resistance, high inflammation, and high aromatase activity that converts testosterone to estrone in postmenopausal women (that we consider a risk factor for BCA) are now frequent in the young generation. In fact, insulin resistance, with constantly high insulin levels, increases the risk of breast cancer by more than 200%. That should raise the awareness increase screening in the younger generation with Insulin resistance and high waist to hip ratio ( aka stubborn abdominal fat)
Low vitamin D, high insulin, toxic lifestyles, estrogen dominance, and high alcohol intake could explain why some women are the first to develop breast cancer in families without a history of it.
Clearly, the complex nature of breast cancer makes prevention difficult. Conventional and integrative doctors should adopt discoveries in scientific publications relating to cause and prevention, associations, and the public to fight this 21st-century monster. However, avoiding toxins, sugar, alcohol, smoking, etc. starts with all of us.
References. www.8thsense.co.za
References available from A2 editors on request